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Released in 1963

Till There Was You

Written by Meredith Willson

Last updated on February 8, 2016

Album This song officially appears on the With the Beatles (Mono) LP.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1963

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Other 1963 songs part of the 2005 US Tour setlist

Related interviews

Related articles

From Wikipedia:

“Till There Was You” is a song written by Meredith Willson for his 1957 musical play The Music Man, and which also appeared in the 1962 movie version. The song is sung by librarian Marian Paroo (Barbara Cook on Broadway, Shirley Jones in the film) to Professor Harold Hill (portrayed by Robert Preston) toward the end of Act Two.  It became a hit for Anita Bryant in 1959 and was later covered by The Beatles in 1963.

History

The first recording of this song to be released came even before the original cast album version of January 1958. Promotional copies of the 45 rpm single, Capitol P3847, were released on November 26, 1957, even before the Broadway production had premiered on December 19. Produced by Nelson Riddle, it featured his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney. An earlier version of this song, “Till I Met You”, was first recorded by Eileen Wilson in 1950 and later appeared on the January 14, 1951 edition of The Big Show, performed by Fran Warren.

The Beatles version

Included on their albums With the Beatles (UK release, 1963) and Meet the Beatles! (US release, 1964), the song was the only Broadway tune that the Beatles ever recorded.

Paul McCartney was introduced to Peggy Lee’s music by his older cousin, Bett Robbins, who would occasionally baby-sit the two McCartney brothers. McCartney said: “I had no idea until much later that it was from The Music Man.” “Till There Was You” was part of the Beatles’ repertoire in 1962 and performed at the Star Club in Hamburg. It became illustrative of the Beatles’ versatility, proving they could appeal to all sections of an audience, moving easily from ballads to rock and roll, as in their appearance on November 4, 1963 at the Royal Variety Performance when they followed this song with “Twist and Shout“.

The band had previously performed “Till There Was You” as part of their failed audition for Decca Records in London on January 1, 1962, and it was the second of five the group sang during their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.

Live versions of the song were released on Live at the BBC (1994) and Anthology 1 (1995). The latter version was recorded when the Beatles played at the Royal Variety Performance; because the album was cut so that live numbers began with the actual song, John Lennon’s famous request that those in the royal box “rattle your jewelry” to “Twist and Shout” is in fact included on the “Till There Was You” track. When introducing this song (likewise placed on “She Loves You” for Anthology), McCartney commented that the song “had also been recorded by our favourite American group, Sophie Tucker“. This tongue-in-cheek comment by McCartney unwittingly began an urban legend that “Till There Was You” was an old Sophie Tucker song, when in fact, there is no record of her ever performing the tune.[…]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

  • [a] mono 21 Aug 1963.
    UK: Parlophone PMC 1206 With the Beatles 1963.
    CD: EMI CDP 7 46436 2 With the Beatles 1987.
  • [b] stereo 29 Oct 1963.
    UK: Parlophone PCS 3045 With the Beatles 1963.
  • [b1] stereo remixed from [b] 1963, by Capitol.
    US: Capitol ST 2047 Meet the Beatles 1964.
  • [b2] mono made from [b] 1963, by Capitol.
    US: Capitol T 2047 Meet the Beatles 1964.

Paul McCartney added “Till There was You” to the setlist of his 2005 US Tour, and a live performance appears on his DVD The Space Within US.

Lyrics

There were bells on a hill

But I never heard them ringing

No, I never heard them at all

Till there was you

There were birds in the sky

But I never saw them winging

No, I never saw them at all

Till there was you

Then there was music and wonderful roses

They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows

Of dawn and dew

There was love all around

But I never heard it singing

No, I never heard it at all

Till there was you

Then there was music and wonderful roses

They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows

Of dawn and dew

There was love all around

But I never heard it singing

No, I never heard it at all

Till there was you

Till there was you

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Till There Was You”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Till There Was You”

Live performances

“Till There Was You” has been played in 79 concerts.

Latest concerts where “Till There Was You” has been played

See all concerts where “Till There Was You” has been played

Going further

Paul McCartney writing

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